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Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

To their credit, the folks where Monica's husband purchased this tried to talk him out of it...

...but apparently, "He just wouldn't listen." So here's Monica smiling in a way that says - through gritted teeth - "Take the picture already...and then get that camera and other breakables as far away from your face as possible."

I don't have the story on this next one, but the underline is six kinds of ominous, don't you think?

Well, when you combine it with the whole coffin thing, that is.

And here's my favorite:

"Come back tomorrow, and we'll celebrate our second."

Personally I find this hilarious - but then I also think it's fun to introduce John at parties as "My first husband, John." Keeps him on his toes.*

Photography Tip of the Day: Unless you want people to think you topped your cake with stewed prunes, you might want to rethink photographing those glazed strawberries in black and white. Unless of course they ARE stewed prunes, at which point photography should be the least of your concerns. [shudder]

My guess is that the person ordering the first one is a fan of the comedian Patton Oswald. Listen to his piece on Carvel Ice Cream cakes and you'll get it. I adore him, and if my husband had gotten me that cake, I would not have been able to stop laughing.

Thanks for asking my question of whether that last cake was photographed in black and white. I was getting worried... And yes, the "your" underlining on that coffin pic is, erm, concerning...I would have that cake tested first.

Not to be picky, but if you're going to call your wife a whale on a cake, at least make it a big cake and make it look edible... the bushy eyebrows are unappetizing, and the whale is so small it's almost saying "you wish you were a whale but you're just a fish pretending to be a whale, wife"

Ha. That's funny that you put in the comment about the b&w photography. I didn't even think of that. I was thinking it was sad that their first marriage (anniversary?) cake was iced in the death colors of black and gray.

OK, on the whale cake, my theory is that they are both Simpson fans, and this is a little inside joke (possibly others before me have spotted it already, so apologies if this is repetitive), and about the second, I'll say Mandy's just landed a job at a funeral parlor... at least that's what I want to think. Actually, I'm weird and twisted enough that I'd be delighted to get a coffin cake from somebody who knows me well.

Well, the first one could be a reference to the Simpsons; I believe Homer and Marge's wedding cake looked just like that. If that was the case, I would have to refrain from committing violence upon my boyfriend's person if he gave me that cake. Otherwise.....Shred him.

Now, we have Fudgie the Whale as a constant birthday treat at our house, but I think if anyone gave me a Fudgie cake with THAT inscription on it, they would get their face slapped clean off their head.

Many years ago I specifically asked my husband to get me a Fudgie the Whale cake with that same inscription..."To a Whale of a Wife." The Carvel guy tried to talk him out of it. I thought it was hilarious. That was my first husband, by the way, but the cake had nothing to do with the divorce!

WV: PsOMadge--My friend Madge who has psoriasis, not my friend Madge who doesn't

i dont care if the whale cake was a joke about the simpsons or not; if my husband gave that to me hed be sleeping on the couch for a week!!can you tell i just woke up though, i realy thought that the first marrige cake was black roses and gray icing. like a goth wedding or something.oh well..

The coffin one actually makes sense for me as a French native: what y'all call a Hen's nigtht (party for the future bride and her friends) is here "l'enterrement de vie de jeune fille" (burial of the life as a maiden).

The whale cake also appears to be a Fudgie the Whale cake, where they are commonly advertised as Father's Day cakes with the inscription "To a Whale of a Dad". "Whale of a wife" may play off of that, even from the Simpsons.

This has nothing to do with saving whales or marriages - I just wanted to let you know I'm coming to Orlando (to see your barf bag) and I'm having a heckuva time coming up with a cupcake design for the contest. Everything I've thought of so far, while hilarious, is either completely obscene or grossly offensive. Curse you, Borders, for being family friendly! Back to the drawing board...

I'm sure you've gotten this a hundred times (and I'm at work and in a rush so I can't read all the comments, sadly) but I'm hoping that first cake is a reference to The Simpsons. Homer buys Marge a cake like that in one of the tellings of their wedding story.

Also, the whale cake, in design and inscription, is what Homer Simpson gave Marge after their marriage in a casino chapel, saying something about a "first class wedding reception" as he put it down on a picnic table. I've been really quite shocked lately, that a blog that is certainly part of pop culture seems to be so completely ignorant as to the rest of it.

I notice he gave his wife a butterknife to cut it with...probably a smart move. @ Emily at 12:03...I guess we all have better things to do than keep up with every blessed episode of what you deem to be pop culture. I've seen my share of the Simpsons but had never seen the marraige episode. I guess that's what we have you for though :)

My friend and his wife had settled on naming their unborn son Jonah, until my friend was stupid enough to say "you know, because he's in the belly of the whale!" to his hugely pregnant wife. I almost died laughing!

That last one reminds me of something that happened to me when I was engaged to my now-husband, 10 years ago. My boss's cousin (quite a character) was visiting and I was giddily recounting the wedding prep we had done over the weekend. The cousin said to me, "Oh, you're engaged? How nice! Is this your first?" I just about fell on the floor! I was 24! I was like, um, YEAH!! To this day, he remains my first and only. Let's hope it stays that way! LOL

I'm sure I'm not the first today to say this, but the first cake is a classic Carvel cake: Fudgie the Whale (for a whale of a dad - it's a father's day cake, tradionally). Fudgie is in good company with Cookie Puss (who the Beastie Boys rap about), Cookie O'puss, and the Santa cake (the Fudgie pan turned sideways). While these cakes are sort of wrecky, they are not wrecks. They are an institution for anyone raised on the east coast. Plus they are ice cream and have chocolate crunchies in them. Nothing wrecky there. And remember, Wednesday is Sundae at Carvel!

Whoah, Emily @ 12:03, the gloves come off when I miss a Simpsons reference, huh? Yeesh.

And in my (meager) defense, Monica never mentioned anything about the Simpsons or the cake being an inside joke. Maybe the husband meant it as such and she didn't get it? Heh, that *would* be rather awkward. :)

The "first husband" reminds me of one of my friends, who liked to annoy her mom by introducing her parents (who have been married for 30 or so years, and never to anyone else) as "this is my mom, and this is her husband, Jim", as if her real Dad was her step-father.

The whale cake was from the episode of The Simpsons where Milhouse's parents divorce and Homer worries that Marge will do the same (it's from season eight and the episode is called "A Milhouse Divided).

The scene was a flashback to the part from season three's "I Married Marge" where Homer and Marge get married at that quickie wedding chapel after Homer knocks up Marge at the golf course (the actual scene with the whale cake wasn't on "I Married Marge,"; it was just a new scene they added for "A Milhouse Divided").

My mom introduces me to people as "my daughter from my first marriage". She's only been married once - for 39 years. I've actually had people turn to me and say "Oh, Ray isn't your Dad?" Yes, actually, he is. LOL

oh, is that what those are on the last one, strawberries? To be completely honest, I am not feeling very observant, and I thought the cake was in black and white and gray icing and that those were just big blobs of icing.

To all the wanna-bes out there...The "Whale of a Wife" cake was indeed featured in an early episode of The Simpsons. However, its appearance was inspired by, as someone else mentioned, the Carvel ice cream cake portraying Fudgy the Whale. The joke was it was horrible for a Father's Day cake, to begin with, let alone for a wedding cake directing what could be construed as an insult to your new wife's physique. And yes, the Simpsons parody came long before Patton Oswald's ripping on Carvel. L2 pop culture people. Really. You'd think camp wasn't cool or something.

...And no, I don't think a Simpsons reference can be considered an "in-joke", Maggiethecat. Nice try, though.

@Emily 12:03 - Holy cow. She's got Dr. Who, Harry Potter, Star Wars, and god knows what else under her belt and you get snippy because she missed a Simpsons reference? Aren't we being a tad bit critical?

For some reason, my first comment didn't make it through (I'm certain I got the WV right, though. Weird.)

Anyway, as I am strictly an anti-Simpsons fan (can't stand the show, although my husband loves it), I didn't make any kind of Simpsons connection with the first cake.

In fact, the first thing I thought of was the idiom "a whale of a time." While I do agree that it's kind of inappropriate to give a whale cake to your wife (unless you have an inside joke), I just figured that her husband really enjoys spending time with his wife and that he thinks she's a lot of fun.

Also, since she doesn't particularly look pregnant in the photo (although it is kind of hard to tell from the angle), if it was a Simpsons reference, wouldn't it have been more appropriate if she was?

I think the fact they used B&W photography on that last cake makes it even wreckier than it would be otherwise. That's just NOT an appetizing look.

re:yesterday's post -

Last night I went to the grocery store and checked out the bakery to see if the giant ant toppers really were a trend and sure enough, EVERY cake AND cupcake pack had those giant ants all over them! The cupcakes had a watermelon deco pick to go with at least but still. I wish I was able to get a picture.

The first photo reminded me of a birthday cake we got for my late grandfather some 21+ years ago. He was a huge ice cream fan. He was turning 70-something, and it said, "Happy Birthday to a Whale of a Dad," and was quickly inhaled. I remember little else about it...but I agree, a whale of a wife would not go over as well. Shannon

Right before our wedding my mother-in-law threw a huge party for her grandchild. Everything, and I mean everything, was labeled with "Aiden's First Birthday." She decorated for our wedding and our joke was that everything was going to say "Jon's First Wedding."

Remember the SIMPSONS episode in which Marge discovers that Homer is having an affair with ...ah...that girl...name of Florence Honeydew. Anyway--Marge sends that coffin cake to the floozy. Oh, and she had put poison in it. Yeah. The tramp was really stupid; she actually ate the cake without even knowing who had sent it . Then she died.

Love that last cake. My husband does that too... introduces me as his first wife. I usually have some snarky response like "Not for long if you keep that up." He just smiles as if to say "You're not going anywhere and I know it." Ha.

Love your site...When we were younger and misbehaved my mother would always explain that we were her husband's children from his first marriage. She would refrain from saying that she was his first wife.

My husband bought me the Fudgie the Whale Cake for a birthday (at my request) and was too embarrassed to have them write "to a whale of a wife" on it, so he did it himself. And yes, I asked for that too because of the Simpson episode. Because I thought it was hilarious. One of my favorite b-day cakes!

I had a friend who was really struggling with a big scary birthday (the kind that ends in "0"). His sense of humor was such that it was easier on him to have friends mourn the end of his youth--complete with black suits, flower arrangements, and a coffin-shaped cake and beer cooler--than a more conventional birthday party.

I believe the "To A Whale of a Wife" sentiment is an ode to "The Simpsons" Homer got Marge the same cake on the night of their wedding. Also, That is a Fudgie the Whale and carvel stores do still exist

Oh my gosh, that is awesome!! I am so going to introduce my husband that way now! Makes up for the gazillion times my husband has said "Melody is my 2nd wife. I thank God everyday my first marriage didn't work out." Makes me feel like a homewrecker (I wasn't).

I would SO accept the "Whale of a Wife" cake because it's from one of my favorite Simpsons episodes! And I will say that the wreck in question is a pretty dead-on recreation of the cake in the episode...the only thing that's off is the color (it should be blue).

the date on this is 2009. It is 2011 and Carvel Ice Cream is STILL selling these things. They sent out advertising coupons for "Whale of a Dad" Father's Day cakes. In Texas, many men are plus-sized and we were all laughing and suggesting sending that one in to Cakewrecks.

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